Nomad Podcast

Ever felt awkward and uncomfortable in Church, like you just don't fit in? Well, according to Jonny Baker that could well be the gift of pioneering. Jonny was pioneering before pioneering was a thing. Most notably he founded the alternative worship community Grace, and more recently he's pioneered a training course for pioneers. So if you're dreaming that things could be different, then tune into the podcast, Jonny might just be the person you've been waiting to stumble across.  “A lot of people like to think that you can jump from the old to the new in one move. But it seems to invariably go through chaos or darkness or wilderness or liminality–you know, whatever that space is – it seems very unusual to just be able to get the new thing going without any pain.” - Jonny Baker Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Brad Jersak, an author and teacher known for his belief that God fully embodies Jesus, dives deep into complex theological waters. He tackles the tough questions surrounding the violent depictions of God in the Old Testament and the parables that seem to suggest anger. With insight and compassion, Brad illustrates how God's true nature shines through Christ. He also discusses how to perceive God's presence amid suffering and challenges traditional views on divine retribution, encouraging a more loving and empathetic interpretation of scripture.

Dave Andrews has lived and worked in intentional communities with marginalised groups of people in Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. Through these experiences he developed a passion for seeing Christians and Muslims learning together what it means to follow Jesus. To this end, he proposes that we all observe the Jihad of Jesus. We caught up with Dave at the Greenbelt Festival to uncover what exactly this means!  “Once we understand that the heart of ‘jihad’ is a non-violent struggle for justice, then of course Jesus becomes the ultimate role model of a sacrificial, compassionate, subversive but non-violent agent of change.” - Dave Andrews Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

The recent image of a drowned child washed up on a Turkish beach brought the refugee crisis into sharp focus. So to help us better understand the complexities of the situation and how best to respond, we've asked Dave Smith to send us a reflection. Dave is the founder of the Boaz Trust, a charity that houses, supports and speaks up for the most vulnerable and destitute refugees in Manchester.  “Can anyone desperate enough to pay several thousand dollars to traffickers and risk a journey in a crowded jeep across the Sahara, then a leaky boat across the Med really be called an economic migrant?” - Dave Smith Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Every now and then we treat you to Nomad Spirituality, a guest meditation based around the Church calendar. So we thought a reflection on Harvest might be in order. Bruce Stanley seemed like the man as he's a forager, owns a small holding, pioneered the Forest Church movement, and wrote the book on it. But rather than giving thanks, what harvest prompts Bruce to do is ask some challenging questions. If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.  Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page. As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

The idea of beauty has shaped Joanna Jepson's life and ministry. Born with a jaw defect she was mercilessly bullied through her childhood and into adulthood. But after successful surgery she then had to figure out how her internal self related to her new external self. She then went on to issue a legal challenge against the late abortion of a foetus with a cleft lip and palate. And later she became a chaplain to the London College of Fashion. So we asked Joanna to tell us what she's learnt about the true meaning of beauty. “You really need to know what the wounds are – never mind what you think is wrong with you physically – you need to know what the wounds are that you are carrying with you, because surgery isn’t going to heal those. It will change you and it may be a very liberating thing. But it’s not going to heal you. That’s a different process altogether.” - Joanna Jepson Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

10 years ago Marina Cantacuzino began to interview people who had suffered all sorts of trauma, abuse and wrongdoing, but who instead of choosing vengeance chose forgiveness.  It's easy as Christians to think that we've cornered the market on forgiveness, but listening to these stories from people from a range of faith traditions and none is deeply challenging and inspiring.  So we asked Marina to share the wisdom she's gained from working on The Forgiveness Project.  “Some people will say you earn forgiveness, you deserve it, you show repentance and apology and remorse. But for many people…forgiveness is an act of self-healing.” - Marina Cantacuzino Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Robert Song is a professor in the department of Theology and Religion at Durham Uni. He recently wrote 'Covenant and Calling', in which he challenges traditional ideas of straight and gay marriage, having children and celibacy and proposes a whole new category called 'covenant partnerships'. And he reaches these conclusions not by looking to Genesis, or pulling out proof texts, but by looking to what life will be like when God's Kingdom fully comes. So brace yourself for some serious thinking! “Let’s not talk about, ‘It’s either the plain truth of Scripture or disobedience.’ Actually, Scripture itself operates at a number of different levels and we may need to just look at the richer, deeper, thicker theological story that comes out of it.” - Robert Song  Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Nomad started out with a group of people wanting to explore new forms of church, so after six years we thought we'd once again explore this idea. Kelly Bean grew up in traditional church and never questioned its practices or structure. But over time she began to realise that the house group she led felt a lot more like church than what happened on a Sunday. So when her Church closed down, her house group became her church. So we asked Kelly what she's learnt along the way. “If you’re in a place where you’ve been wounded and you’re living out of pain or discontentment or you’re deconstructing a lot, don’t be too fast to start something. Find a process and a way and time to be able to heal so that when there’s a new beginning, you’re doing that out of a sense of being called into something beautiful as opposed to reacting to something that was difficult.” - Kelly Bean Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Jewish blogger, Robert Cohen is back on the show, sharing with us lessons from his faith journey. So if you're interested in knowing more about the connection between faith, ancestry and land, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, interfaith marriage, what a Jew makes of church, and what a true prophet looks like, then this is the episode for you! “I think we’re all asking the same questions really. We might have a different language and a different liturgy to try and answer them. But fundamentally, we’re all trying to work out why are we here and what is being asked of us and how we’re meant to behave.” - Robert Cohen Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Therapeutic Reflections, and Nomad Revisited. If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug! If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here. Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group. And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.